Fighter
by NiennaAngel
Summary: GarlandxClaude Garland and Claude are both in an international martial arts competition, but Garland isn't just fighting for the first place trophy. Rated for two or three swear words.


This fic is dedicated to Natty Colombian Girl who requested a GarlandxClaude. Well originally she requested Sanguinex/Robert, but I wasn't able to fullfil that request based on the fact that I have no idea how to write Sanguinex. However, I was able to write this lovely little GarlandxClaude for her instead. I hope you all enjoy and please review!

_blah_ thoughts

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Garland stood in front of the large electronic display board looking over the brackets that were being used for the martial arts competition he was competing in. He had taken time off from beyblading in order to compete in his second favorite sport. There was an international martial arts competition being held in New York City for any and all martial artists of black belt level and Garland was one of 32 martial artists that had made it past the preliminary rounds and into the final competition. His gray eyes moved carefully down the long list to see where he was listed and who his opponent was. The bracket listed not only the name, but the hometown and style of martial arts that each contestant practiced. Garland's eyes stopped when he saw a familiar, unexpected name. _Claude? He knows Capoeira? I never would have seen that coming._ Garland's eyes went back to searching for his own name and found it on the opposite side of the board from Claude's name. _Guess if I'm going to fight him we'll both have to make it to the finals. I wonder if he's good enough to get that far._ His eyes flicked to his opponent and smirked when he realized that he was a first degree black belt in Kempo. _This first round should be easy enough considering I'm two levels above my opponent._ Smirking with confidence he walked away from the large board to warm up. His match was in fifteen minutes and he started to jog to warm up his legs. 

Claude walked up to the brackets to check on his second opponent. He had defeated his first opponent easily enough and was hoping that his next fight would pose a bigger challenge. He had met few opponents who could actually challenge his skill. After finding his next opponent was a student of Jujitsu he took some time to look over who else had made it to the second round of competition. He sighed as his eyes flicked over the names and saw that it was predominately Karate practitioners. _People have no originality. Karate is so common. _Then his eyes landed on a familiar name. _Garland. Why am I not surprised to see his name on this list? Kempo. Interesting. I wonder if he'll make it to the finals. I should be able to see his next fight. It's half an hour before mine._ Claude smiled and turned his attention to the times of the fights. There were two rounds on the first two days of the tournament and then the final was on the third day. All he had to do was win three more fights and with the extensive training he had done over the majority of his life he was confident he could make it to the finals and possibly win. _The one good thing about working for Barthez was that he intensified my training so that I'm even stronger and know how to cope with a number of martial arts forms._ He turned on his heel and walked away from the board towards the nearest exit. He had two hours before he had to be back if he wanted to watch Garland's match that afternoon and he was quite frankly starving.

Garland walked out of the stadium after his match. His opponent had been good and he had only one by a couple of points, but he had still managed to pull off the win. He was looking forward to his third match the next day. "Nice match." Garland stopped in his tracks and turned to look at who had spoken to him. He blinked in surprise when he saw Claude leaning against the wall smirking. "The brackets say you compete in Kempo, but you don't stick to Kempo. You mix in a lot of kickboxing as well." Garland walked over to stand closer to the smaller fighter.

"Speaking of style, where did you learn Capoeira?" Garland inquired. He watched as Claude pushed away from the wall and turned to walk away.

"At home in Barcelona." Claude walked away from Garland knowing full well that he hadn't answered the other's question the way he wanted. _It's not my fault he asked where instead of why. It's a shame to. The answer to why I study Capoeira is much more interesting than where._

Claude walked up to the board curious as to who would be his opponent in the finals the following afternoon. A sly smile appeared on his face when he realized that Garland had made it to the finals as well. "I find it very intriguing that two of the world's top beybladers are also dominating the world's martial arts tournament." Claude turned around to come face to face with Garland. "I do believe that I asked you the wrong question yesterday. I asked where you learned Capoeira when I really wanted to ask why." Claude stayed silent simply to tease the older fighter. "Why do you study Capoeira? Not that many people have even heard of it."

"That story is a long one, but I'll give you the short version. When I was small I spent a lot of time with my neighbor who was a master of Capoeira. He taught me so that I would be able to defend myself against anyone I came up against." Claude watched Garland's reaction wondering if he would press for more information. _Maybe some other time you'll get more of the story. Right now it's not something I want to be talking about._

Luckily for Claude, Garland seemed temporarily satisfied with the answer he received and moved onto a different topic. "I watched your first fight this morning against the Red Dragon Karate fighter. I don't think he knew what to do with you."

Claude smirked and walked over to stand a few inches from the taller fighter. "Will you know what to do with me?" He walked away while keeping his back straight and his hands still at his sides. _What will you do with me Garland? You spent most of the last beyblading tournament checking me out. Will you catch the double meaning of my question or will you think I'm only talking about what goes on in the ring? How badly do you want me?_ It wasn't until Claude turned a corner that he could no longer feel Garland's gaze on him.

Garland stared after the retreating Spaniard heavily intrigued. He found the challenge incredibly interesting and tempting. _Could it be that Claude is interested? This tournament final just got a lot more interesting if he is._ Claude rounded a corner and Garland was forced to go back to the real world. He knew that if he wanted to stand a chance against Claude the next afternoon he would need to get in some last minute training and ignore the crush he had on the other. _When you step in the ring everything else goes out the window. Your opponent is your opponent regardless of who he is to you outside of the ring. I will win tomorrow Claude. In more ways than one._

Claude walked into the stadium ready for the final fight. He had every intention of beating Garland despite the fact that he would like the elder fighter to ask him out once the fight was over. Claude's storm gray eyes swept the crowd and easily spotted the large group of beybladers that had come to watch the final. He was surprised at the number of teams that showed up. Not only was his and Garland's teams there, but so were the White Tigers, the Blitzkrieg Boys, the All-Starz and G Revolution. _What the hell are all of you doing here? I didn't see anyone but my teammates in the stands before. I get the Tigers and Blitz Boys since they all know martial arts, but what are the All-Starz and G Revolution doing here? I've never seen them express and interest in martial arts before._ He raised his hand to signal that he saw his teammates who started cheering for him instantly. He grinned at the support shown as he started stretching. _It's always nice to know they support me in this. I guess they know how much it means to me._ Claude looked over to the other side of the ring and saw Garland casually waving to his teammates who were trying to drown out Claude's teammates with their cheering. _You better make this fight interesting Garland. I might not be able to go out with you if you bore me in the ring._

Garland looked over to Claude as he began his own stretches. He smirked when Claude looked up and caught his eye. Garland finished stretching just as the referee called them both to the mat. The ring wasn't really a ring, but a square mat with a circle on it. Garland was used to fighting in something that looked more like a boxing ring than the mat they were using in the tournament. He was used to being able to use the ropes and knew from watching Claude's fight that his opponent was used to the open mat. _I'm winning this tournament and then I'm winning you Claude. I hope you'll still go out with me even if I beat you. I won't back down from you._ The ref explained the rules and they bowed to each other before taking their starting positions. _Damn it! Two rounds down and I'm losing. I can barely lay a hand on him. He's so damn flexible, which under different circumstances would be a huge turn on, but in this scenario is a major pain in the ass._

Claude grinned at Garland as he was announced the winner of the tournament. They bowed to each other and Claude was presented with the first place trophy. _Sorry Garland, but you should definitely come after me outside the ring. I won't say no._

Claude was leaning against the wall waiting for a certain Kempo practicing beyblader to walk past him. "Nice match" he commented when said blader was a few feet away. "I haven't had to work that hard to win a match since I was a kid."

Garland stopped and looked at him curiously. "That probably has something to do with a lack of interaction with people who know how to counter Capoeira."

Claude shook his head. "Trust me. I wouldn't be saying anything if that were the case." There was a pause in the conversation and Claude tilted his head to one side as he lifted his one foot to rest flat against the wall. "I asked you if you knew what to do with me. I guess the answer was no."

Garland smirked as he walked over. "I didn't know what to do with you inside the ring. That doesn't mean I don't know what to do with you outside the ring." Garland placed his hands on either side of Claude's face and leaned in for a kiss that he had been waiting for. To his surprise Claude didn't hesitate in responding and even leaned into the sweet kiss. Garland closed the distance between their bodies as Claude's foot dropped to the ground and his arms made their way around Garland's neck. The kiss slowly deepened as they began to explore each other's mouths with their tongues and bodies with their hands. Claude pulled back and smirked. "I know exactly what to do with a fighter like you outside the ring."

"Good, because I'm one hell of a fighter in everything I do." Garland pressed their lips together again in a hungry, desperate kiss that had been denied him for too long. Between the prolonged kisses and their intense fight they were forced to pull apart panting to fill their lungs with oxygen. "You should have done that a long time ago Garland. You didn't need to waste an entire tournament staring."

"I'm a fighter too, Claude. I had to accurately judge my prey before I could make a move." Claude laughed as he pulled Garland's head down for another kiss.

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There you go. I hope that you all enjoyed this very odd pairing. If you were wondering about the styles of martial arts that I mention all but the Red Dragon Karate (which I got off of Final Fu on MTV2) I found information on Martial - Arts - Info dot com. Thank you for reading and please be kind enough to leave a review.  



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